Was It Real? The Exchange Rate-Interest Differential Relation over the Modern Floating-Rate Period

In this paper, we explore the relationship between real exchange rates and real interest rate differentials in the United States, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Contrary to theories based on the joint hypothesis that domestic prices are sticky and monetary disturbances are predominant, we find little evidence of a stable relationship between real interest rates and real exchange rates. We consider both in-sample and out-of-sample tests. One hypothesis that is consistent with our findings is that real disturbances (such as productivity shocks) may be a major source of exchange rate volatility.     

Aggregative Public Good Games

We exploit the aggregative structure of the public good model to provide a simple analysis of the voluntary contribution game. In contrast to the best response function approach, ours avoids the proliferation of dimensions as the number of players is increased, and can readily analyze games involving many heterogeneous players. We demonstrate the approach at work on the standard pure public good model and show how it can analyze extensions of the basic model.     

Collective Labour Supply: Heterogeneity and Non-Participation

We present identification and estimation results for the "collective" model of labour supply in which there are discrete choices, censoring of hours, and non-participation in employment. We derive the collective restrictions on labour supply functions and contrast them with restrictions implied by the usual "unitary" framework. Using the large changes in the wage structure between men and women in the U.K. over the last two decades, we estimate a collective labour supply model for married couples without children. The estimates of the sharing rule show that male wages and employment have a strong influence on bargaining power within couples.     

The Dynamic Effects of the US Productivity Boom on Australia*

How has the USA's ‘new economy’ productivity boom affected Australia? We consider this question using a dynamic multisector growth model of the Australian and US economies. We find that productivity growth in the US durables sector generates small but important gains to Australia. We find that the transmission of growth is generated through increased export demand for agriculture. Consequently, the USA's productivity growth tends to favour Australia's traditional export sectors. Likewise, it increases the relative demand for less skilled labour in Australia and reduces the demand for more skilled labour and higher education.     

Hicksian Income in the Conceptual Framework

In seeking to replace accounting conventions by concepts in the pursuit of principles‐based standards, the FASB/IASB joint project on the conceptual framework has grounded its approach on a well‐known definition of income by Hicks. We welcome the use of theories by accounting standard setters and practitioners, if theories are considered in their entirety. Cherry‐picking parts of a theory to serve the immediate aims of standard setters risks distortion. Misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the selected elements of a theory increase the distortion even more. We argue that the Boards have selectively picked from, misquoted, misunderstood and misapplied Hicksian concepts of income. We explore some alternative approaches to income suggested by Hicks and by other writers, and their relevance to current debates over the Boards' conceptual framework and standards. Our conclusions about how accounting concepts and conventions should be related differ from those of the Boards. Executive stock options (ESOs) provide an illustrative case study.     

Price Discovery in Illiquid Markets: Do Financial Asset Prices Rise Faster Than They Fall?

We study price discovery in municipal bonds, an important OTC market. As in markets for consumer goods, prices “rise faster than they fall.” Round‐trip profits to dealers on retail trades increase in rising markets but do not decrease in falling markets. Further, effective half‐spreads increase or decrease more when movements in fundamentals favor dealers. Yield spreads relative to Treasuries also adjust with asymmetric speed in rising and falling markets. Finally, intraday price dispersion is asymmetric in rising and falling markets, as consumer search theory would predict.     

Relationship between Tobacco Advertising and Youth Smoking: Assessing the Effectiveness of a School‐Based,Antismoking Intervention Program

A significant consumer issue today concerns tobacco advertising and youth smoking behavior and what is being done in the interest of these young consumers to reduce smoking. Since the Master Settlement Agreement earmarked resources for consumer education, progress is being made researching the effectiveness of antismoking advertising and of school‐based, antismoking interventions. This paper explores the effectiveness and potential of one such program to encourage additional interdisciplinary research attention and to provide direction in reducing smoking uptake behavior among youth.     

The Incentive Value of Inventory and Cross-training in Modern Manufacturing

This paper shows that major components of modern manufacturing processes, such as inventory management and cross-training, play a significant control role. In our model, workers possess information that is critical to efficient ongoing operations. An organizational design that motivates workers to optimally apply this information leverages both the production schedule and worker–management communication. Management's use of these controls results in work-in-process (WIP) inventory that appears excessive from a pure job-scheduling perspective, but is optimal when control issues are considered. Empirical work testing pure job-scheduling theories of modern manufacturing practices has yielded mixed results. We provide control-related interpretations for these empirical findings, and also provide novel predictions regarding the link between inventory levels and the nature of operational information asymmetries. Overall, our model highlights the importance of recognizing both control and scheduling issues when analyzing production processes.     

Corporate Governance and the Prediction of the Impact of AIFRS Adoption

This study examines whether a firm's corporate governance system, particularly with respect to the characteristics of the board of directors and senior management, affects how accurately the impact of accounting changes is reported to shareholders. We concentrate on the relation between corporate governance measures and accounting forecast errors that arise with adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards by listed Australian firms. Evidence reveals that corporate governance mechanisms are associated with the likelihood and magnitude of managerial forecast errors.     

Consumption Habits in a New Keynesian Business Cycle Model

Consumption habits have become an integral component in new Keynesian models. However, consumption habits can be modeled in a host of different ways and this diversity is reflected in the literature. I examine whether different approaches to modeling consumption habits have important implications for business cycle behavior. Using a standard New Keynesian business cycle model, I show that, to a first-order log-approximation, the consumption Euler equation associated with the additive functional form for habit formation encompasses the multiplicative function form. Empirically, I show that whether consumption habits are internal or external has little effect on the model's business cycle characteristics.